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[[File:Beowulf - Frea ware.jpg|thumb|Mention of Freawaru in the ''Beowulf'']]
'''Freawaru''', introduced in l. 2020 of the poem ''[[Beowulf]]'', is the daughter of King [[Hroðgar]] and Queen [[Wealhþeow]].

Freawaru is a ''freoðuwebbe'' or [[peace-weaver]] (an important concept in the poem) who is married to [[Ingeld]], King of the [[Heaðobard]]s and son of [[Froda]]. This marriage was created as a means of ending a feud between the two kingdoms<ref>Lines 2027-2028.</ref> (due to the murder of [[Froda]] by the Danes). It was an unsuccessful attempt to end the feud.<ref>lines 2027-2028.</ref> [[Starkad|An old warrior]] urged the Heaðobards to revenge,<ref>Lines 2042-2067.</ref> and [[Beowulf (hero)|Beowulf]] predicts to [[Hygelac]] that Ingeld will turn against his father-in-law Hroðgar.<ref>lines 2067-2069.</ref> In a version given in the Danish chronicle ''[[Gesta Danorum]]'' (see below), the old warrior appears as [[Starkad]], and he succeeded in making Ingeld divorce his bride and in turning him against her family.<ref name=nordisk>[https://runeberg.org/nfcf/0547.html The article ''Starkad'' in ''Nordisk familjebok'' (1909).]</ref>

==Scandinavian sources==
In ''[[Gesta Danorum]]'' (book 6), Freawaru also appears, but unnamed. Froda and Ingeld are rendered as Danish kings, in conflict with the [[Saxon people|Saxon]]s, and Freawaru is a Saxon princess.

The Danish king [[Frotho IV|Frotho]] (Froda) was killed through treachery by a Saxon named [[Swerting]] (Swertingus). Frotho's son Ingeld (''Ingellus'') lived a wanton life and married one of Swerting's daughters. This angered [[Starkad]] so much that he enlisted at the Swedish king [[Halfdan]]'s (Haldanus) court instead. As Ingeld continued his sinful life and did not do his duty to avenge his father, Starkad appeared during a banquet that Ingeld had with the sons of Swerting, his father's slayer. Starkad strongly admonished Ingeld and humiliated his queen who tried to calm Starkad with kindness and her costly ribbon. Starkad succeeded in exciting Ingeld to kill Swerting's sons and to divorce his Saxon bride.

==Notes==
<references/>

==Sources and external links==
* [http://mcllibrary.org/DanishHistory/book6.html Book 6 of ''Gesta Danorum'' at the Online Medieval & Classical library]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060819030321/http://www.mun.ca/mst/heroicage/issues/5/porter1.html ''The Social Centrality of Women in Beowulf: A New Context'']

[[Category:English heroic legends]]
[[Category:Characters in Beowulf]]